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Original poster

Bedwetting alarm

13 replies

notsoposh · 05/01/2006 14:34

Repost as the title didn't come out properly..

I'm posting this for a friend ( honest!)
Her ds ( aged 8 ) has never been dry at night and is still in pull ups ( realise this is still very common tho') Her ds is very keen to be dry ( going away with the school next year overnight) and they have started using an "alarm" rigged up to the nappy which sounds a buzzer whenever the nappy is wet.
My friend's ds is a really deep sleeper and even the alarm doesn't wake him up. His mum gets up, wakes him and takes him to the loo for a wee when she the alarm goes - up to 3 times a night. He has what she describes as a "small bladder capacity" - and wees a lot in the daytime if he drinks. No daytime accidents thoough.
I think this has all been arranged through the school nurse/HV but my friend is a little unsure of what to expect.
Questions are really - does anybody have any experience of using these , did they work ( and will it work if the alarm doesn't wake him) and how long did it take? Any other advice?
Thanks

OP posts:
marthamoo · 05/01/2006 14:37

This is my thread about when ds1 had a bed-wetting alarm Hope it helps. They don't work for all children but we were lucky and it was a great success with ds1 - he's been dry ever since.

badmemories · 05/01/2006 14:38

I had this inflicted on me when I was about that age. I hated it. I used to switch it off, or wiggle the plug so that it would seem like an accident that it wasn't working because it upset me so much. What was the bloody point of waking me after I had started peeing? It didn't stop the flow. If anything it made things worse because the alarm scared me.

Schools are used to children wetting. There are night nappies that are discreet and he can use them in private. You can talk to his teacher about it.

But I think these alarms are really horrible.

edgetop · 05/01/2006 15:14

im starting to worry about my son he is 5 he still wears a nappy at night he is no nearer to been dry than when he was a baby.he is a very deep sleeper i think thats were the problem is.its hard to know what to do for your child as they are all so different,at the moment im not saying much to him.
,

Janh · 05/01/2006 15:21

badmemories, it is supposed to stop the flow - not instantly so yes, the wetter is still wet to begin with, but when successful it trains the brain to recognise that a wee is imminent before it starts.

I agree that for some children they don't and never will work, but if you read moo's post you will see that for some they do

notsoposh, if it turns out that he is one of those who doesn't wake for the loudest noise, tell her to ask her GP if they can try desmopressin tablets. This is a simulation of a hormone (vasopressin) which cuts down urine production at night so that the bladder doesn't get full; in many of these late bedwetting boys the hormone isn't produced naturally and the synthetic version can do the trick.

edgetop, you are doing the right thing atm - if he is still completely wet by the time he gets to 7 you could start considering the different methods available to help.

starlover · 05/01/2006 15:26

my brother had one of these (wet the bed til he was 13, as did my mum!!!)
it didn't work at all... it barely made him stir, and he wet anyway

the doctor used to give him tablets to stop him wetting the bed if he went away with school though. no idea what they were though

mumofthreebeauties · 05/01/2006 16:45

My Dd had one and it was fantastic.

Initially we had to measure every drink and wee to compare what she was drinking to what she wee'd and how much her bladder could hold.

Then she had to drink much more in the day (she never drank a lot) to develop her bladder.

She then had an alarm and was dry within a fortnight. We would wake her up fully when the alarm went off and slowly she woke up with it going off, then would wake after a dribble and then was dry.

singersgirl · 05/01/2006 18:43

We visited the enuresis clinic last March with DS1 (then 6.5 and never reliably dry at night, though by then he was dry 2-3 nights a week). The nurse told us that the alarm could take up to 14 weeks to work. What you describe is very common. At first the wetter doesn't wake but you still make them turn the alarm off and take them to the loo,even if they've already emptied their bladder. Gradually they learn to wake while weeing, and after a few more weeks they wake before wetting as they're familiar with the sensation. Because of the 14 weeks (and the fact that the alarm tends to wake everyone else in the family up first) we were advised not to use it unless DS1 was committed -which he wasn't.
The HV also got us to up DS1's daytime liquid consumption to increase bladder capacity - 6-8 cups of water a day, no fizzy drinks, no cocoa, no squash or blackcurrant drinks and limited milk. Limited drinks after 4 pm but unlimited until then.
Fortunately for me (HUGE huzzah! [smile}]) DS1 has been dry since the beginning of December, without a wet night since! We never did get round to the alarm - it looks as if the vasopressin has finally kicked in at 7.5!
Good luck to your friend!

bundle · 05/01/2006 18:45

has he really got a small bladder? or has his bladder just grown used to emptying when it's not full? agree with the drinking lots during the day strategy

marthamoo · 05/01/2006 18:59

The eneuresis nurse told me that some children do have smaller bladders - and that you can stretch the capacity by increasing drinks during the day.

badmemories, I'm sorry you had such a bad time with your eneuresis alarm. But they do work for some children - ds1 is living proof. And, at 7, he was desperate to be out of nappies at night-time (plus, the fact that the night-time nappies didn't actually have the capacity to cope with the amount of urine he was producing and he was waking up wet through every night anyway). There is no way he would have gone on his overnight school trip if he was still in nappies - no matter how discreetly it was managed. He wouldn't have let me tell his teacher - he was far too embarrassed. And yes, it was horrible at first with the alarm - the thread I linked to shows that - but he was so incredibly proud of himself when he'd cracked it, it was worth the difficulties at the beginning.

They don't work for all children - but they are well worth trying.

bundle · 05/01/2006 19:00

think the small bladder thing needs checking out though

Janh · 05/01/2006 19:08

bundle, it's called "small functional capacity" - ie what you said about being emptied frequently - not actually smaller than normal, which is why the bladder stretching thing is worth a try. But only in school hols so you can stand over them and make them practise holding on - otherwise they'll just go on weeing every half-hour or whatever they can manage at school (IME anyway ).

marthamoo · 05/01/2006 19:10

That's the one Jan Small functional capacity.

bundle · 05/01/2006 19:13

oh yes, that's what i thought. eric v good ime.

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